SLCspeaks Grills Pub Secret Menu

Last semester, Connor Miller took his love of the Pub to the next level with the first edition of the Pub Secret Menu. SLCSpeaks caught up with the sandwich enthusiast and amateur meal-plan mathematician in his natural habitat.

You obviously have a commitment to the Pub and sandwiches, what made you jump from just appreciating the Pub and to starting a Facebook group for it?

Connor Miller, Pub Secret Menu: I live right next to the pub in McCracken, so I come here a lot and basically I was faced with a problem, crippled by indecision sometimes. So I wanted to have set sandwiches that I could get, but I usually ended up getting the same one over and over again because it was easy to know, I figured lets see what other peoples usual things are and I just wrote them down. And decided to make the first Menu, which was last semester, and then we made the Facebook page and more people got involved. It’s very exciting.

Last semester I was in a whole bunch of plays, so I’d come to the Pub after rehearsal at like 10 o’clock at night. My friend said “This is the Betty Draper”—it’s cranberry walnut bread and white cheddar. She calls it that because it’s ‘classic and clean, like an American wife’. I loved that, and that was one of the original Pub Secret Menu items. Unfortunately they don’t have white cheddar anymore.

Can you tell me some more?

PSM: I come to the Pub for breakfast every morning and then sometimes lunch. Do you know Matteo? Because I come here so often, I met him and now we’re like best friends. But he came over one day and was like “This is the ‘Mmmm’.” Its sourdough, avocado spread, crispy chicken, cheddar cheese, panini’d, under meal swipe.

What’s your go-to sandwich?

PSM: My go-to right now is the “Voldemort”—plain bagel, mozzarella, bacon, tomato spread, cucumber, lettuce, and tomato—and its under meal swipe. It’s called the Voldemort because the first time I ordered it, the guy behind the counter gave it to me was like “Did you order this sandwich?… Never order it again.” ‘Cuz apparently he had a very difficult time making it.

What’s bad Pub etiquette?

PSM: I would say forgetting until the end of the order that you wanted cheese, because they have to delete everything and reenter it, so that’s pretty fucked up. Don’t rush the Pub workers.

Can I tell you some of my recent Pub obsessions?

Yes.

PSM: They recently took down the big circular signs that used to have the grill stuff and make-your-own sandwich. They were sitting inside the VIP lounge and we asked if we could take them. Now they’re sitting in my room, I cleaned one of them and I need to clean they other one because they smell…. They smell pretty bad. But we have two of them, so we’ll make them room decorations or tables or something.

Theres a running joke that I always run into Kelsey Monson at the pub, so we concluded that we’re probably going to get married at the Pub. The way the ceremony would work out is that we would order each other at the counter, and then they’d call our number and we’d pick each other up at pick-up window. And the reception would be in this area. And the honeymoon would be upstairs in the loft.

The next project is the Pub Calculator, where we have an Excel spreadsheet of all the things you could get in the pub and how much it costs. So you could go on line and see what you can get, but finagle so it’s under a meal swipe so you can come in here ready to go. Because they rob you! All my paychecks from tourguiding go solely to breakfast at the Pub. So if I can find ways to save money… I’m gonna do it.

Do you have any more Pub innovations?

PSM: I’m trying to get together a Pub delivery service. If you’re sick, AVI will bring you a food tray, but I think I could make money if I could deliver stuff for like $2. I want to incorporate meal swipes somehow—It’s really tough, but if I can come up to the counter and give them the person’s ID number and then just deliver it, that would be great.

Are you like, an amateur Pub historian?

PSM: Do you know the history of the Pub? Because now a whole bunch of people know me as the Pub Guy, I try to make it a point to know as much as possible. Theres more, but the basic history is that it was originally the infirmary on campus. So this was health services. And after the GI bill was passed and men started coming to Sarah Lawrence, the Pub was the men’s dormitories. Then later on, more men came and they moved to different dorms, and the Pub was called ‘Charlie’s Place.’ I’ve seen a picture online, it looked like somewhere you’d buy hot dogs. It was called Charlie’s Place because it was named after a president of the college. And then it became the Pub. There’s definitely more, I wish I knew more about Charlie’s Place. That’s the basic history.